In farming, “grain augers” are commonly used to unload granular agricultural materials from trucks into bins.
Over the years, the scale of farms and of the equipment used in farming has progressively increased. Formerly, loading/unloading augers were relatively small and light, and it was possible for a physically fit operator to manually position them for use (operation). It was also possible for a reasonably skilled operator to back up a simple dump truck and position its discharge chute over the inlet of a material transfer auger. Also in the past, a helper was often available to assist with the physical movement of equipment and to provide guidance in positioning the truck.
As large grain auger/conveyors have come into use, it is no longer possible or easy to practically position them by hand, and some are sufficiently large to require a tractor to tow, position and power them.
Much less manoeuvrable belly-dump semi-trailers and highway tractor trucks are now often utilised to haul agricultural materials rather than end-dump grain trucks. It is much more difficult or at times impossible to manoeuvre a semi-trailer or highway tractor trucks into position relative to a conventional unloading system.
Work on a grain farm is seasonal in nature, and opportunities for full time employment have continuously decreased over time. Consequently, there has been less and less labour available on the typical farm. Whereas in the past another person may have been available to assist with positioning equipment, that is no longer the case in many situations. To compound the problem, the age of the farming population has increased significantly and farmer operators are less able to perform physically demanding tasks.
With fewer available operators, the time of the farmer/operator is increasingly valuable. Time-consuming, low value-adding physical operations must be minimized in the interest of improved economics of scale and the avoidance of personal injury.
Safety is also an issue when an operator is working alone, as farmers are often required to do.
With current economic pressures, farming operations increasingly demand equipment that is safe, simple and easy to use and maintain, cost effective, and which offers the highest possible overall efficiency of use.
To address current needs, industry has responded with innovations in unloading system design. Various adaptations of existing equipment have been devised.
Swing-Away Conveyor Systems
The current standard in the industry is the swing-away type screw auger that is connected to an agricultural tractor. Such a system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,963,066 to Boppart and 4,603,775 to Plett. The system has a lower, swingable transfer auger portion that is swung under a grain trailers unloading chutes. The lower transfer auger then unloads into the main transfer auger. This is a somewhat cumbersome system that requires the swingable auger to be swung under the grain trailer and removed each time the trailer is unloaded. If the trailer is a B-train type or a Super-B-train type™, meaning two trailers with a fifth wheel pivot and a set of two or three axles respectively located in between the unloading chutes or group of unloading chutes of each trailer, the swingable auger has to be swung under and from under each of the trailers.
As illustrated in Boppart, the tractor is connected to the swing-away auger system at the outboard end of the main transfer auger. The swing-away portion is then typically approximately 90 degrees to the main transfer auger to allow the grain trailer to approach the unloading system close enough to allow for unloading. This arrangement is often not convenient or even suitable for some yards where the ability to manoeuvre the highway tractor unit and the grain semi-trailer is restricted by the grain bins themselves, buildings, overhead power lines or trees, et cetera.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,068,103 to Werner discloses an alternative swing-away auger extension.
Westfield's MK Series™ grain augers are present-day swing-away conveyor systems.
Generally with swing-away type conveyor systems, a sometimes awkward, less than ideal positioning of the main conveyor and its power unit is required. This type of system requires cumbersome manual handling of the swing-away auger extension before and after unloading, and for each trailer and often for each unloading chute in a semi-trailer train. Typically the user has to jockey the auger conveyor, the semi trailer and tractor unit, truck, or both.
Ramp/Ramp Over Systems
In an attempt to improve upon the swing-away auger system, various types of ramps and combinations of ramp and self-contained intermediate transfer augers have been devised which make it possible to simply drive a truck or semi-trailer over the inlet of the transfer auger system; facilitating use and eliminating the need for repositioning of the unloading equipment for each truckload. One such system is manufactured by Westfield™.
In the Westfield™ device, the ramp system is simply placed over the hopper of a conventional swing-away auger system. This approach still has serious drawbacks in that such a ramp is typically too large to be handled manually Y and requires another tractor to carry and position it. Otherwise, the tractor that is being used to power the auger needs to be disconnected from the main elevating device, and re-connected before and after (respectively) each repositioning of the ramp. The process needs to be repeated each time the conveyor system is moved to a different bin. The positioning of auger and its power unit remain somewhat awkward and less than ideal. Initial manual handling/positioning of the swing away auger extension and separate handling of the ramp is required.
Separate Transfer Conveyor/Ramp System
The separate horizontal transfer auger, alone or in combination with a drive-over ramp is another approach that has been employed to improve upon the ease and efficiency of unloading agricultural materials, as illustrated in the Portable Pit™ device.
The device includes a frame with a pair of support wheels and a hitch. Connected to the frame is a pit with manual, spring-assisted, folding ramps. There are twin screw lateral transfer augers located at the bottom of the pit. In addition, there is a single screw intermediate auger. Thus the whole device is built into a trailer-type unit.
The ConveyAll™ belt-type conveyor similarly has a ramp. However, this device uses an endless belt rather than screw lateral transfer augers and has a ramp detachable from the transfer conveyor.
With both of these systems, there are either one or two components (transfer conveyor and ramp) in addition to the main elevating device that must be handled/positioned each time the loading system is relocated. The components are too large to be handled manually so another tractor is required to carry and position the components. Otherwise, the tractor that is being used to power the main elevating device needs to be disconnected, and re-connected before and after (respectively) the positioning of the intermediate transfer unit and ramp. That process needs to be repeated each time the auger is moved to a different bin.
Other devices use an expensive, separately powered intermediate transfer system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,566 to Stewart et al discloses a portable, drive-over grain hopper that comprises a substantially horizontal, paddle-type transfer conveyor. A belly-dump truck may be easily positioned over the hopper of this invention for unloading bulk granular materials. This transfer conveyor also comprises a removable tow hitch and transport wheels to allow it to be easily relocated. One disadvantage of this invention is that the horizontal transfer conveyor must be towed and positioned separately from the elevating conveyor that it is intended to discharge into. A further disadvantage is the need to manually elevate the hitch for attachment to the towing vehicle, and where necessary, to install and remove the transport wheels. Yet another disadvantage is the need to manually fold the ramps for transport.
This equipment as developed to date, is typically cumbersome, complex and costly and leaves unaddressed, opportunities to further increase cost effectiveness. Either a separate tractor is required to position the equipment or it is necessary to disconnect the tractor that is powering the unloading auger for the purpose of positioning the ramp and auxiliary auger system. Each piece of the unloading equipment system must still be separately positioned when moving from one bin to another, consuming valuable time. Complexity leads to more required maintenance, a higher probability of breakdown and increased costs. High cost compounds the economic pressures on farming operations.
Integrated Systems
An integrated belt conveyor with ramps has a flexible-walled hopper and drive-over belt conveyor. One such device is named INNO-Veyor™.
One benefit of such a device is that it allows normal positioning of the elevating auger relative to the bin. The lateral transfer section, complete with ramps is integrated with the elevating section, eliminating the need for separate handling and positioning of ramps and transfer section. In addition, the lateral transfer section and elevating section share a common towing/power unit. Finally, the unit incorporates a hitch for towing and wheels for trailering the entire lateral transfer and elevating unit.
One of the problems with this system is that it is limited to a belt-type conveyor, to be able to drive upon it without damaging it. The system also requires a heavy transfer structure also to enable driving on it. Another problem is the relatively narrow opening to receive material because the width of the belt is limited to that which can be used in the elevating section. Also, the structure/mechanism needed to support and operate a drive-over belt may be relatively tall which limits the clearance between the belly dump chute of a grain trailer and the flexible hopper above the device and also the size of the opening into which material can be dumped.
The present inventor believes that a hydraulic cylinder is used to position and hold the joint rigid between the lateral and elevating sections of the device. The structures of both sections must therefore be sufficiently strong to bear the bending that tends to occur in this area. It seems to the present inventor that if an error is made in positioning the transfer section for use, or if part of the lateral transfer section sinks into soft soil under the weight of the truck/trailer, an undue stress would be imposed on the structure. It is not likely to be economical to build the unit heavy enough to withstand such loading.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,471,031, which issued to Stanley R. Duncalf discloses a material handling conveyor adapted for ease of hitching to a towing vehicle. A substantially horizontal transfer conveyor portion is pivotally connected to an elevating conveyor portion and the horizontal transfer conveyor portion comprises a hitch. One or more hydraulic cylinders are provided for positioning the horizontal transfer conveyor portion and hitch for ease of connection to the towing vehicle. This patent does not address the difficulties in an agricultural situation where bulk particulate materials must be unloaded onto the conveyor from large, difficult to manoeuvre, multi-trailer, highway tractor truck units.
It is an object of this invention to improve upon existing particulate material unloading systems that are presently made up of a number of separate components which can include a main elevating conveyor; a separate auxiliary horizontal transfer conveyor; an integrated swing away horizontal transfer conveyor; and a separate ramp system. It is a further object to dispense with separate handling and positioning of separate components and eliminate disconnection and re-connection of the towing vehicle.
Specifically, it is an object of this invention to provide, in a particulate material unloading system: an integrated main conveyor and transfer conveyor complete with an integrated drive-over ramp/platform such that only one piece of equipment is used to transport, position and power the system. Thus it is not necessary to utilise a separate transfer auger and ramp. It is a further object to make the positions of conveyor and truck tractor trailer(s) unit more normal and convenient, and finally provide all functions powered by and conveniently and remotely operated from the towing vehicle, including operation of ramps, transport wheels, hitch and conveyors without having to disconnect the towing vehicle or the powering systems. It is also an object of this invention to provide power actuated ramps for ease of use and easy positioning of trucks for tractor and trailer(s) units unloading; said ramps being foldable for narrow transport width; said system having no requirement for manual effort in the operation, apart from operating powered equipment through remote controls; said system providing power actuated transport wheels and hitch for ease of changing from operating to transport position; said system further providing articulation between auxiliary and main conveyor as well as support by transport wheels such that no portion of the weight of a truck tractor and trailer(s) unit on the ramp/platform is transferred to the main conveyor; towing for transport is accommodated without having to provide a rigid joint between auxiliary and main conveyors; and relative movement in transport is accommodated and does not impose strain on either transfer or main conveyor structure; said system further providing the option of using different types of conveyors that may be preferred, including auger/screw, belt, paddle, and bucket; said invention providing a conveyor drive train connection at the hitch so that conveyors are driven by the tractor and the drive need not be disconnected for transporting. Another object is to provide a truck position indicator means to facilitate aligning truck trailer unloading chutes and hoppers with the material receiving area of the unloading system.